Zhu Juntao, ex-CEO of Hodlnaut, charged with fraud over $193M Terra-linked shortfall
Zhu Juntao — a co-founder and the former CEO of Singapore-based crypto lender Hodlnaut — was formally charged in a Singapore court on May 26, 2026 with multiple counts of fraud by false representation, nearly four years after Hodlnaut collapsed in the fallout from the Terra/LUNA implosion.
What prosecutors say
- Singapore’s Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) says Zhu, 36, faces six counts: three under Section 424A(1)(a) read with Section 424A(3) of the Penal Code 1871, and three under the same provision read with Section 109 (abetment). Each count carries a potential penalty of up to 20 years’ imprisonment, a fine, or both.
- The charges focus on a narrow window — May to July 2022, immediately after TerraUSD’s de‑pegging — when authorities allege Zhu directed staff to make false or misleading statements to users. According to police statements and court filings cited by Mothership SG, those communications included a Telegram post claiming the firm had “not taken any losses as a firm” and emails to roughly 30 users asserting Hodlnaut had assumed no losses.
- Prosecutors allege those statements were intended to deceive users while the platform was suffering material losses.
The financial fallout revealed
- Hodlnaut suspended withdrawals in August 2022. Subsequent judicial records and interim managers’ reports painted a much bleaker picture than the public messaging had suggested.
- Court filings from August 2022 disclosed a $193 million financial shortfall tied to exposure to the collapsed Terra ecosystem. An interim judicial managers’ report seen by Bloomberg estimated near‑$190 million in losses from Terra exposure. On‑chain analytics later corroborated material exposure to UST and Terra‑linked activity.
- Court‑appointed managers also identified about $13.1 million in user assets stranded on the collapsed FTX exchange. In total, more than 30,000 users were affected.
- Singapore’s High Court ordered Hodlnaut to liquidate; EY partners were appointed joint liquidators.
Legal status and next steps
- Zhu pleaded not guilty and contested the charges at his May 26 hearing. A pre‑trial conference is scheduled for June 2026, Channel News Asia reports.
- The case is part of a broader, ongoing accountability process triggered by the 2022 crypto contagion.
Wider context
- The TerraUSD/Terra/LUNA collapse in May 2022 set off a chain reaction across crypto: platforms and funds such as Celsius, Voyager, Three Arrows Capital, and eventually FTX suffered catastrophic failures in the months that followed. Together, those collapses inflicted losses on retail users into the hundreds of billions of dollars and have driven a multi‑year regulatory and legal reckoning for the industry.
- That Zhu’s prosecution comes four years after Hodlnaut’s collapse underscores how protracted investigations and cross‑border asset and insolvency work have made legal accountability in crypto slow and complex — but not impossible.
Sources and visuals: Singapore Police Commercial Affairs Department announcement; court filings reported by Mothership SG and Bloomberg; Channel News Asia. Cover image from Grok, ETHUSD chart from TradingView.
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